“It’s the head of the clan. She’s in charge of everything – it’s very political and usually stays in the family, passed on from female Novus to her female Novus daughter and so on until there isn’t a direct female heir.” Ophelia explained, “Sometimes it passes to a different member of their family, like a niece or a great-niece, but the female heir that isn’t a direct descendant of the current Matriarch has to prove their worth in battle to establish she is the alpha female and most worthy.”
“Our current Matriarch was eleven when she got her position,” Tessa added with a fond little smile, “The previous Matriarch only had female Sapien daughters, and Desiree -”
“Our current Matriarch,” Ophelia added.
“Yeah,” Tessa said, snapping her gum as we pulled away from the buildings to get onto a larger main road. “She beat all the other females in battle and was actually the world champion the year she became Matriarch, our little beast.”
“Obviously she has a regent -”
“Yeah, like we’re going to let some whelp be in charge of our government!” Tessa laughed.
“Yeah, the previous Matriarch’s great-niece is technically the head of our clan, but it’s Desiree that is the official Matriarch, and if she has a Novus daughter one day, then that little girl will succeed her and me the next Matriarch...but that’s a long ways off. Desiree is fourteen how and she’s placed second in the world’s champion circle for the past three years-”
“But that’s only because the current holder is especially vicious, so-”
“Yeah, Kimora is a fucking animal, oh my God.”
“Yeeeeess!” The two sisters laughed and they talked about things that made absolutely zero sense to me, but sounded distinctly like things relating to a sport. Stats. Averages. They talked about how much they had wagered on the next battle.
Once they settled, I asked “What about the men? Are there patriarchs?”
“Uh, well,” Tessa pulled a face, “So there is, but it’s not as cut and dry as whose Matriarch. Usually there is the Matriarch, and then the Female Alpha Novus-”
“Or just FAN,” Ophelia added.
“Yeah,” Tessa shifted in her seat, her eye narrowing a little, “With the Matriarch always passed down to the next Novus female, even like a daughter of her son, as long as there is one. When there is no heir and the Matriarch is very old, then the FAN is the official heir, and as long as they have the backing from the clan, then they take over and her descendants will rule the clan. With the males, it’s a bit messier.”
Ophelia coughed a little and I saw her reach up and fix the intricate braid her hair was in. “So the FAN is usually very obvious, like Desiree didn’t have anyone in our clan that was close to her skills, so we always knew she’d take the seat.”
“Yeah, but it’s different with the males because their skills fluctuate wildly with age, mated status, size of family, the cycle of the moon, time of the year, and class,” Tess said as the vehicle accelerated, my hands returning to hold onto the belt over my chest.
“Yeah. So you have the official Patriarch of the clan, who is the son or grandson or whatever of the current Matriarch, but he has to be the closest to the Matriarch and that can change with her family politics.”
“Usually it’s a son,” Tess added.
“Yeah, a son.” Ophelia agreed, “But that role is pretty much purely ceremonial and used with other higher-ups to get in contact with the Matriarch. He’s the one that usually goes overseas and stuff to represent our clan because the Matriarch is too important to leave where our clan is.”
“But the most powerful male is highly dependent on the local area.” Tessa said firmly, “Like, with females, we all look to the clan Matriarch as being the head of everything with the FAN also being the head and thus earning the same amount of respect – with the Matriarch being a mostly fixed position who is respected for her power, but the FAN being fluid but respected for her raw power and skills. We have familiar packs with first cousins and sisters and very close friends, but for the most part, our pack will be clan-wide.”
“All female Novus in a single clan is considered a cousin,” Ophelia said. “Sisters are very close Novus. Like Tessa isn’t actually my blood sister, but we were raised together and so we consider each other sisters. Carla is a cousin because she’s from a different town, but Tessa and I still consider her family because we all follow the same raws and share the same exact culture. A FAN needs to have the backing of most of the cousins to be gain the title of Matriarch.”
“Yeah, exactly.” Ophelia agreed, “With males... Alpha status depends on what town you are in because the alpha Novus male is the local enforcer and the one that will force you to respect his position. He’s the strongest, fastest, and most aggressive in the area.”
“He’s the one that will kill others to establish his dominance, but usually he also has the backing of all the males, who are either alleys or afraid of him. Most Alpha Males are the ones with several close brothers or first cousins that back him up. His territory can be as small as a town, or a city, or even the entire freaking country, but that’s super rare-”
“Country would need to be pretty small,” Ophelia mumbled.
“Yeah, because maintaining that big of a territory would be near impossible.” Tessa said as he continued down the road, “The MAN entirely depends on the stability of his territory, so if there is local strife, then there is no real MAN. Only if things are stable and at peace is there one to pay respect to, since he’s the one that’s ensuring everyone keeps it together and stability is maintained. The Male Alpha Novus or the MAN, is almost always the head of the Rapid Response Unit of the local Peacekeepers. They are highly aggressive, but also are the ones with the best control over themselves and thus can best control his territory.”
“Liliport’s MAN is Claude, and no, Carla, you haven’t met him.” Ophelia turned in her seat to look at Carla, “Claude doesn’t come out of his office until he’d going to chew someone’s face off, so hopefully you won’t ever have to meet him. He’s not well. We’re trying to get him a mate, but, you know…” She frowned and looked forward again.
Carla nodded with a wistful look in her eyes and I licked my lips, thinking over what I was being told. “So...the patriarch-”
Tessa sucked in a breath. “So the Patriarch is a purely ceremonial title and the male Novus closest to the current Matriarch, but the MAN is far more important respect-wise because you are very likely to actually meet him from night to night and he’ll actually kill you if you mess with him. It’s very important to know who the MAN is where you live because his rules are the most important, almost more important than the Matriarch. While she controls the legal aspect of everything and organizes everything, the local MAN is life and death and maintains actual order.”
“But few MAN have rules that contradict the rules of the land that the Matriarch have established,” Ophelia said, “Because if a MAN causes too much issue, then the Matriarch will call the other MAN from the other towns and cities and send them down to straighten things out. That’s how Claymoore broke off...a MAN fudged a few rules, but he had the baking of the locals and after a short war, they started their own clan and now have their own Matriarch and whatever.”
“Oh, but there is a sapien Matriarch and Patriarch…” Tessa said, “That’s important. You should tell him about that.”
Ophelia looked at her and I saw her pull a face. “Yeah, but I don’t want to confuse him.”
“It won’t,” Tessa said firmly.
Ophelia seemingly thought that over before she said “So there is a Sapien Matriarch that is also passed down from mother to daughter, but until the Novus Matriarch, the title can be passed down to nieces or cousins if there are no daughters or granddaughters. But super importantly, the Sapien Matriarch is purely a council role. She has zero actual power in our clan. At least in our clan.”
“Yeah – in East and West Campora, their sapien Matriarch actually have veto power for the legislature and can overrule the Novus Matriarch’s decisions, but that’s now how it is here. Our sapien Matriarch just advises on Sapien issues, doesn’t overstep her bounds.”
“And there are...a lot of rights for Sapiens in Victoria?” I asked, looking between the sisters.
“Yeah, we had a really great Matriarch. Everyone loved her, and the sapiens loved her because she really listened to the Sapien Matriarch and was a really fair and uniting force.” Tessa said fondly.
“Save for Claymoore,” Ophelia said.
Tessa growled. “Fuckers.”
“Right?” Ophelia said with a scoff, “So annoying.”
I inhaled sharply, “Does the cur- uh, Desiree, listen? To the Sapiens?”
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